Fame and Love Stories
by violad3r
Summary: Annabeth Chase is a world famous actress. But what happens when her manager, Silena Beauregard, decides that the fame is getting to the young star and sends her of to Seattle, to live with her father for a year? And what if Annabeth meets a ceratin black-haired guy in her new High School? But her past is not letting her go that easily...
1. Arriving in Seattle

Annabeth

I watched as the ground below us got closer and closer, until it was safe to turn airplane mode off and see if Luke had texted me. I sighed – he hadn't. He probably didn't even miss me, but then again – did I miss him?

Moving to Seattle for the year was neither my decision nor was it Luke's. In fact he was against it more than I was and he even tried turning Silena against it, without any luck.

Luke had been my boyfriend for three years now, but the last six months had only been for the press – it was quite obvious that neither of us had feelings for the other. Still, he was basically my only friend, except for Rachel and Thalia, and a text message now and again would've been nice.

My phone made a noise, as I stepped off the airplane and into the waiting limousine. I quickly glanced at the display, only to see that it was my dad. The guy I had been forced to live with, this next year.

'Hope you landed safely. Tea and cake waiting for you when you come home! Love, Dad'. I glared at the display for so long, in hope that it would combust and shatter. The way he said 'home' so casually made me want to scream.

I noticed the bar next to me, as the car sat in motion. Without hesitating, I poured myself a glass of champagne and dialled Luke's number.

"Baby." His greeting was still true to our relationship, but I bit my lip and answered in a less warm way.

"Luke. You promised you'd text."

"Honey, you know I've got lots to do. Roman was calling me all mornin' and I had a photoshoot with Hugo Boss an hour ago. I didn't have time to sit down and _see when your plane landed _until twenty minutes ago. Besides, Andrina came by and-"

"Luke, you can't greet me with 'babe' and then tell me that Andrina came by two seconds later."

He laughed at the other end. "No strings, remember?"

"Then don't call me baby."

"Gee, sorry," he muttered. "How are you, _friend?_"

"I am good, thank you." I poor myself another glass of champagne. "I am sitting in the limousine, on my way to my dad's house."

"Oh, baby."

"Luke –"

"It's a saying, Annabeth, hold your horses."

"How was the photoshoot?"

"Lot's of shirtless photos, so I'm sure that they'll be good. It's for the new perfume."

"I thought so. Were they nice?"

He takes a deep breath, as if he has no idea why he's even talking to me. "Yes. What's with the sudden interest in my everyday life?"

"I don't know," I take a sip from my glass. "I guess I want to think about something else than my _dad_."

"Weren't you invited to that dinner – what was it called?"

"La Bajour Elitaire."

"Right. In Paris?"

"I think so, I'll have to call Silena. And maybe google what it is, because I have no idea. The Danish Queen'll be there."

"Nice. They'll probably have good food."

I sighed. "Yeah. I can't believe I have to start High School again, Luke. It's been so long since I went to a regular public school. I'll stick out like crazy."

"Annabeth, if you're scared that you're going to stick out, you have a problem because you were on the last four teen Vogue covers."

"I _know."_

"Oh, come on. They'll love you. Everyone wants top be your friend – one of your best friend's is Justin Bieber and your _boyfriend _is Luke Castellan. Will you relax for a minute?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Get some sleep Annabeth. When will you be arriving?"

"10 o'clock tonight."

"Two hours to go baby."

"Luke –"

He hung up and the silence was deafening.

I took the blanket that was folded neatly on the other seat and closed my eyes.


	2. Welcome Home

Annabeth

Seeing my father in his pyjamas, was not something I had been expecting. He ran out of his house, in gum boots and blue-striped pyjamas, grinning like a madman, while I tried to get my heel out of the mud, which it had sunken a centimetre into.

"Annabeth!"

"Hey… Dad."

He embraced me in a hug, which was kind of awkward since (with added height because of my heels) he was a head smaller than me and I had my bags and purses slung over my shoulder and was still struggling to get my foot out of the mud.

"Just take off the shoe," my dad said. I did as he told me, and even though walking in the mud was probably the most disgusting thing, I rather wanted mud and dead plants underneath my gel toe-nails than looking like a common white-girl superstar in front of my dad.

"There's hot chocolate inside. The kids have already gone to bed."

I nodded and smiled, as Marc, my private driver went inside with my luggage.

"And Helen is watching 'Breaking Bad' upstairs, so we have the living room to ourselves."

"Thanks."

"Do you want me to take one of your bags?"

"It's fine." I was already struggling to hide the Gucci signs, having him carry them wouldn't make the situation any better.

As soon as we were inside, I placed my bags behind a little stool standing next to the white door and my dad handed me a rag, to clean my muddy shoes and feet. He carried two steaming cups into the living room and a bowl of chocolate-chip cookies.

I smiled at the sight of the old house – everything seemed so familiar. The bowl of fruit looked almost exactly the same, standing on the same old black, polished table. The vintage chairs and pictures, old maps that had been hung up with magnets on magnetic paint.

The paint on the railing of the stairs was still red, like the blanket that _still _hung over the chair, where Bobby always sat.

I could find the living room with my eyes closed and as I slumped down in the couch, I realised that despite everything, I was happy to be here. "Hasn't changed a bit."

"Well, not the insides no. Helen is very on point with keeping everything the same way as always, but she did let me add some black tiles to the roof." He winked at me.

"They used to be red," I remembered.

"Care for a cookie?"

I stared at the bowl for a long time, before slowly reaching out and grabbing one. I hadn't had something as unhealthy since two weeks ago, were Silena told me about my new role for the new 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie. It had always been my dream to play with Johnny Depp, so I was beyond excited.

"New movie coming up?" My dad takes one too, and eats it in one go, before grabbing another one. I nibble mine slowly, enjoying every little sweet crumb.

"'Pirates of the Caribbean 4'. I'm sorry, it's not your fault. I'll just go jogging tomorrow morning."

He leans back and smiled at me. "I'm so proud of you, Annabeth, don't get me wrong, but there are around 80 calories in one of them. You burn that by doing three situps."

I laugh. "Really? I'll ask my personal trainer about that."

He shakes his head. "I can't believe that little Annabeth Chase is a world famous actress. I just can't."

"Well, I… followed my dreams."

His jaw clenches and I know I've crossed the line. Becoming a family man, doesn't exactly make it easy to become a pilot.

"Dad, I'm sorry."

"What? Oh, no! I'm over that, Annabeth."

I look at my hot chocolate, debating whether or not to drink it. I end up taking a sip, just for my dad. "So, what's the school like?"

"Oh, yeah! It's great. We got one of the teacher's stepson to drive you. He's very nice – Percy's his name. He'll pick you up on Monday."

"Really? Thanks."

"Yeah, I thought that you might feel weird going on the bus. He promised to show you around too, unless –"

_Hopefully not a fan. That'd be awkward. _"Unless, what?"

"Well, he told me that he wouldn't show you around, if you had a stuck-up celebrity attitude."

He looks at me, apologetically. "'M sorry, Beth. I shouldn't have told you that."

"What? Oh, please, I'll just show him that I'm not one of those stuck-up celebrities."

He looks pleased. "That's my girl."

"Hey, uh, I think I might go to bed. I'm sorry, but if I have to see the whole town and go jogging tomorrow, I should probably get some rest."

"Of course! Thanks for… the talk."

"I'm thanking you."

To my surprise, he embraces me in a big hug. "I'm really happy to have you here, Annabeth."

"Yeah…" I bite my lip. Don't say anything that could hurt his feelings now. "Yeah, dad, me too."

He smiles at me and the crinkles around his eyes, make his eyes sparkle. "Goodnight, Annabeth."

"Goodnight."

I pull/carry my bags up to my room and have to smile again, as I open the door. It looks just like I left it, when I left Seattle five years ago to become who I am today.


	3. First Impressions

Percy

"Dude, _what?!_" Jason grinned at me like a madman. I shook my head, smiling.

"Come on, Perce. Don't pretend like you're not just a little bit excited and feeling awesome as ever."

Grover was thumb wrestling with Nico, but while he spoke to me, Nico got his thumb down with a triumphant grin. Grover frowned, but turned towards me, while Nico went to alphabetise his records – the only thing he had been doing, since his father gave him all those records. He didn't have a record player though, but that was something for another day I guess.

"Yeah, I mean…" I tried to get my head around it. I held a DVD in my hand, nervously flipping and turning it. The movie was 'Marilyn Monroe: Behind the Smile'. Starring Annabeth Chase, Whom I was driving to school the following day.

"It's just… Won't it look kind of ridiculous? I mean, she'll probably turn up in thigh high Gucci shoes and a Chanel purse or whatever all those brands are called –"

Grover waved a finger. "D&G, honey."

"- And I'm driving a hundred year old blue Prius, which isn't even mine and –"

"Percy, stop worrying!" Leo entered, a tray of cupcakes in his hands. He reddened. "Calypso… wanted to… you know, celebrate?"

I didn't grin. I could feel myself getting more and more nervous as night time came closer. I was less than 24 hours away from meeting (and driving. And talking to) the face of Loreál. The designer of that little bag thing, that all the girls in our school carried around with them. The main attraction of all parties. The girlfriend of _Luke Castellan._

And who was I? A 17-year-old, living with his mom and step dad in a tiny apartment in Seattle, with a car that they all shared and no TV. Nice. Smooth. And now, everyone was cheering me up and telling me that I looked good enough for her and blah blah and it only made the whole thing worse.

"Guys… She'll probably have a really snobby, Hollywood attitude and besides, it's not like I can have a relationship with her since she's dating the _face of Hugo Boss underwear." _

Nico chuckled. "Well aren't you a little ray of sunshine."

"Back at ya."

He looked at his black jeans, with the metal chain dangling from it and black skull-patterned T-Shirt, plus his (also black) aviator jacket. He had gelled his (black) hair up and was wearing a (skull) ring. Very maturely, he stuck his tongue out at me.

Leo clapped me on the back. "C'mon, man. Cal even made you a blue, cookie monster cupcake."  
>I gave in. "Yeah, but I have to talk to Annabeths dad, quickly."<p>

"What, why?"

"He told me that maybe they would arrange a car for me to take, so that I didn't have to take her in my blue, hundred year old Prius."

Grover clapped his hands. "Well, then what are you waiting for? There's nothing to worry about, man!"

"They'll probably arrange you a brand new Mercedes. Or a limousine, or something."

I shook my head at them, grabbed my cupcake. "Say thanks to Cal for me."

"I shall, driver Perseus!" Leo grinned, saluting.

"Adios, mis amigos," I smiled. Leo waved back, while the others just looked at me blankly.

As I slipped out of the shed, where we often met, I heard Leo say: "That's 'bye, my friends' in Spanish. He's good."

I had to chuckle, before I hurried into my car and turned the heat up and the radio on.

* * *

><p>"School doesn't start before tomorrow."<p>

I raised my eyebrows, but I couldn't help but stare. She was even more beautiful in real life. Her hair was wavy, in a ponytail – not a single hair wasn't in its right place. She was wearing blue skinny jeans, with light brown boots that went to her knees. Her top was the same colour as the shoes, light brown, but with lots of cream coloured sparkles and details. She was also wearing a black statement necklace. Her makeup was minimal.

"I know," I replied. "I came to talk to your dad, actually."

"Oh," she flushed. "Well, I'm Annabeth. You must be Percy. Come in."

I took off my shoes, before entering. I had been here numerous times, since Annabeth's parents and my parents were great friends. I followed her in.

"Dad?" Annabeth called.

Frederick came out of his office, taking off his glasses. "Percy, my boy! How are you? Sit, sit."

I sat down on a chair, while Annabeth stood awkwardly to the side. Frederick sat down opposite me.

"I'll make tea," Annabeth announced, before hurrying into the kitchen.

"So," Frederick's eyes twinkled. "What do you think?"

"Uh, about your daughter?"

He nodded.

My cheeks got hot. "Well, uh, she's very pretty. And, I mean, she's been quite nice the 20 seconds I've known her."

Frederick smiled. "That's good. But, Percy, you have to know that she has different routines at home. She's been trying very hard, but she does vanish into her room, quite often, texting with whomever she does text. But, she came here for a break, which is why as soon as she makes some friends, I'm confiscating her phone."

I scrunched up my eyebrows. "Isn't that a little…?"

"I guess. But her mother specifically told me 'more outside with friends, less inside with digital friends'."

"Sir, I'm sure that she does lots of things away from home back in New York."

Frederick waved his hand. "Irrelevant."

"Oh-kay, and why are you telling me this?"

"I just want to make sure that she gets friends."

"I don't think she'll be needing help with that."

Frederick shrugged. "We'll see."

I still couldn't believe that Annabeth Chase would be sitting alone at a lunch table, but I decided to go with it.

"Okay, well, about the car."

"Percy? What tea do you want?" Annabeth stuck her head out of the kitchen.

"Whatever you guys are having," I called back.

"So, yeah, about the car. We're not going to be hiring a car for you –"

"Sir, I'm sorry, but have you _seen _my car?"

"Yes, I know! It's perfect, for getting her used to Seattle life."

"Um, okay." It was hard hiding my disappointment.

Annabeth came out with three cups of steaming tea. I smelled mine – it smelt like lemons. Which made me think of one of Annabeth's interviews that I had once watched, where she said that she used lemon shampoo. I shook my head – no thinking about what Annabeth's hair smelt like.

She sat down too.

"Percy'll be driving you to school tomorrow, Annabeth," Frederick smiled.

She smiled at me and luckily, it didn't seem forced. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as I thought.

"Cool," was her only response.

Frederick looked at the both of us. "I'm going to go finish my work."

He left, closing the door to his office as he entered.

An awkward silence settled. "Nice tea," I commented.

Her eyes lit up. "Really? You think so?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Oh, thank the Gods. It's my own creation, but it won't be in stores before next month."

Obviously.

"Really? Well, I really like it."

"That's a relief."

"So… how do you create your own tea?"

And then she started rambling about what it was like to be in the factory and choosing out the perfect citrus fruits and stuff and I really enjoyed listening to her. She seemed really upbeat about her tea, which was sort of nice, even though most people had a passion for, I don't know, climbing or shopping.

Her sentence was cut short, by her phone ringing. She glanced at the screen.

"Don't you want to get that?"

She shook her head and stuffed the phone back in her pocket. I had to smile to myself. The name '_Luke_' had been very visible.

* * *

><p>That night, I sat with my laptop in bed, eating cereal. I was watching Annabeth's interviews, which might've been a little creepy, but I wanted to know more about her and it was quite easy, when said person was a world famous star.<p>

I clicked one that said: 'Annabeth Chase on Luke Castellan, her new tea creation and working with Loreál'. The screen popped up – she was obviously standing on a red carpet. 'Hugo Boss' and other company names plastered the wall behind her. She was wearing a golden, halter free top and her hair was wavy.

"Hey, Annabeth!"

"Hi!"

"You look gorgeous tonight!"

"Thank you. Gods, so do you! I love your dress."

The interviewer smiled. "Awe, thanks. We have some questions for you…"

"Yep," Annabeth laughed.

"So, how's dating Luke Castellan? I'm sorry, I know you get this question a lot. But, for how long have you guys been dating?"

"Um, we've been dating for almost a year now. And you know, it's quite nice, because we don't fight over things like fame, since we both understand it and go through it. I think… I think, that Luke is a great guy and I like it that I can feel that he's proud to be dating me." She stopped. "Wait, that sounded really self-loving. I meant, that he often tells me how proud he is of me and that makes me really happy."

"Aw, well that's nice. And, you must be proud of him too! The face of Hugo Boss, that's a big feat!"

"Yeah, it's great. Being the face of such a huge company, does take a lot of free time though, so it's hard to have a proper night out sometimes, but we like to just watch movies and snuggle at home too."

"And you're the new face of Loreál, too? How's that for you?"

"That's, um… absolutely mind blowing, to be honest, I mean, Loreál has always had these super confident and gorgeous women and being part of that Is a huge honour. And you know, Loreál's motive is 'because you're worth it' which I really like, because it really includes that _everyone _is worth it, not just a special group of people."

"Wow, yeah. Awesome! And you're creating a tea? That's cool!"

"Oh my gods, yes, that's so exciting. Because I'm a huge addict to like detox teas and just teas in general, because they're super delicious and so healthy and a great way to drink enough water. So, I'm creating a whole line, actually. The first one will be kind of rosy and sweet, and the second one will be more citrussy and you know, with lemons and lemongrass and oranges and stuff, because those teas are my personal favorite."

"Wow, that's great, I'll be sure to check them out when they come out."

"Awe, thank you!"

The interviewer turned back to the camera. "'Viva La Jessie comes out on November 4th, be sure to check it out! And Annabeth, have a great night. Thank you for answering our questions."

"You're welcome! Yo have a great night too!"

"Thank you, bye!"

The screen went blank. I smiled to myself. Annabeth seemed like a person you could really become good friends with.

I set the laptop aside and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>AN SO SORRY that this chapter was so dam long, but I hope you enjoyed anyway!


	4. First Day and Flying Sparks

Percy

It took me around twenty minutes to decide whether or not I wanted to gel my hair or not, but I ended up just splashing it with water and leaving it messy. For the first time in a definite while, I actually thought about what I wore and went for black jeans and a dark green flannel and vans. It kind of reminded of something Luke Castellan had worn on a photo in 'Gala' once, but it still didn't seem like I was trying to impress anyone.

I sighed. "Bye, mom!"

She gave me a big smile. "Have fun, honey."

"Yeah, yeah."

Paul walked past me, grinning, a cup of coffee in his hand. "I'll be taking the school bus today, won't I?"

"Ha-ha," I muttered. The Prius was actually Paul's car, but he would be forced to take the underground for a while now. Luckily, he was awesome and let me borrow it, so that I could pick up Annabeth in a kind of orderly fashion.

I hurried outside, school bag slung over my shoulder and hopped in behind the wheel. It only took five minutes to drive to Annabeth's and those five minutes really weren't the problem. Here, I could turn up the radio and sing along as strangely and loudly as I could and I could have conversations with myself and open the windows all the way, despite the freezing air. That would all have to change as soon as Annabeth hopped in and it took half an hour to drive to the school. I seriously hoped that she would bring up the subject 'tea' again, so that we would have something to talk about.

Frederick waved at me through the window and I sent him a smile. Then the door opened and Annabeth hurried up. I had to mentally tell myself not to stare at her the entire way to school and probably get us involved in a major car accident.

Her hair was more curly today and I had the feeling that this was her natural hair. Her eye makeup looked darker, but still absolutely flawless. She was wearing a grey sweater dress, with lots of golden jewellery, fish net stocking and Nike shoes. I don't know why, but it was the perfect combination of sexy and everyday.

She sat in next to me and put her brown, leather school bag down in front of her feet. "Hey!"

"Hi."

I forced myself to concentrate on the road, as I pulled out of her drive way.

"How are you? Thanks for driving me by the way."

"You're welcome. I'm good. Little tired, but who isn't on the first day of school, right?" I grinned.

I could hear the smile on her lips. "I'm not. I was sensible enough to go to bed _early._"

I didn't really know what to answer to that, so an awkward silence settled.

"Do you think everyone will stare?" she mutters, after a while.

I smile. "Yeah."

"Can you give me the tour? I'm… nervous."

"You're nervous?"

She laughed, but it was kind of shaky. "I haven't been to public school _forever._"

"So… what kind of school do you do?"

She shrugged. "Online. I've had some tutors, too. It's just easier for me to learn that way, but I guess I'll have to adapt."

"It's not as bad as you think."

She nods.

"You're not like I expected you to be," I say.

"Of course not. Let me guess, you thought I'd be the biggest bitch ever?"

"Well… yeah."

She huffed. "I can be a big bitch. I'm not nice to people who aren't nice to me."

"Makes sense."

"I just don't get why everyone thinks Hollywood is so simple. There are so many great people there, you just have to meet the right ones," she pauses. "Besides, we're all human in one way or another. Everyone has a good side and a bad side, the press is just more interested in the bad side."

She glances at me, cheeks red. "That was… long."

I laugh. "That was intelligent."

"You thought I was dumb too?"

I think about it. "No, not really. You always striked me as the kind of person who brings down her enemies after planning her attack months before."

"I do like planning."

"See?"

She laughs. "It's nice to have a friend already."

I had to smile. She used the term 'friend' so casually.

"It's nice to be friends with someone who has created their own tea. Do I get free gift boxes?"

"Why not."

"Seriously?"

She laughs. "I can arrange a free gift Annabeth Chase-tea box for you."

I grin. "Awesome."

We pulled up in front of the school. Apparently word had gotten around, no surprise there, because every single head turned. Not mentioning the paparazzis, that went completely mad taking a million pictures a minute. It was quite intimidating.

Annabeth kept her head held high and walked gracefully around to my side of the car, before leaning in and whispering: "Please get us out of here."

I grabbed her arm and pulled her through the crowd. I caught Leo's eye. He was grinning like never before.

She pulled me into the school, seeming totally confident. As soon as the glass doors shut behind us, she took a deep breath. People were still staring here, but at least the paparazzis were gone.

"Perce!"

I turned, still breathing heavily, but the sight of said person, didn't make me see everything in a ray of positive sunshine. Rachel was wearing dark blue, paint-splattered skinny jeans and a white tank top. She had doodled a cigarette and the words 'It's A Metaphor' on it with a marker. Her hair was in a bun, with a black bandana.

"Oh – uh, hey."

She hugged me tightly and I could feel Annabeth awkwardly stepping aside. Finally I pushed her off and she jumped down, grinning.

"How were your holidays?" she asked, completely and utterly ignoring Annabeth.

"They were fine. This is Annabeth."

Finally, she turned and eyed the blonde. Then she gave her a big hug. Typical. "I don't believe it! That's crazy – Leo was talking about it all last night in Loft, but I didn't think that Annabeth Chase was _actually _coming to our school!"

Annabeth blushed. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Rachel, by the way. You were amazing in 'Art of Love'. I'm a huge sucker for comedy romances."

Annabeth gave a nervous laugh.

Rachel grinned. "I'm sorry. I'm not usually like this, just hyperventilating. But, um, I guess I'll see you around!"

She gave both of us another hug and ran off.

Annabeth stared after her.

"For your information, she wasn't hyperventilating. She's always like that," I commented. Annabeth laughed.

"I wish I was like that."

"Like what?"

"Like that. It must be so easy making friends. It's hard for people to judge you when said person is always happy and positive and open."

"You're not too bad."

She laughed again. "Just show me where the office is, please."

She followed me down the hallway, ignoring people's curious looks. Trying to hide her face behind her hair, she asked: "What's the Loft?"

"Oh," I opened the door to the office. Mrs. Cunningham looked up, her worm looking mouth in a deep frown. "It's a club me and my friends sometimes go to."

"Kind of like 'Avenue'?"

I thought about that. "I guess. Minus Paris Hilton."

She flushed. "Right."

"I'll wait here."

I sat down on one of the benches, placed right inside the door and gave her a reassuring smile. She walked forward and smiled at Mrs. Cunningham, who was our secretary.

"Hi. I'm Annabeth Chase. I'm new here."

If Mrs. Cunningham was baffled, she did a good job at hiding it. She simply nodded and turned around to face the printer. Meanwhile, Annabeth eyed a photo of Mrs. Cunningham, her son, Trent., who went to the school and her husband. I don't know why the photo fascinated her so much, but she didn't take her eyes off it, until Mrs. Cunningham turned around again, schedule in hand.

"Your schedule. I'm guessing that Mr. Jackson will be showing you around?" she sent me a half smile and I gave her a wave.

"Y…" Annabeth sent me a glance and I nodded. "Yeah."

"Great. Well, have a good first day. And if you have any complaints, please turn to the staff, not to suicide."

Annabeth gave her a strange look. I don't know if Mrs. Cunningham told every single student that, or only Annabeth, because of her fame.

Before we left, Mrs. Cunningham called my name. "Mr. Jackson? Good luck this season."

I grinned. "Thanks."

We closed the door behind us . Annabeth laughed. "_Please turn to the staff, not to suicide_?"

I shrugged, laughing.

"And what did she mean, _good luck this season_."

"Oh, I'm the captain of the football team. Mrs. Cunningham is a very loyal supporter."

She nodded, reading her schedule. "Will you show me yours?"

"I'll be forced to walk around with you all day anyway, Annabeth. I'll even be going to your classes."

She huffed. "_Forced_."

I glanced at her schedule and almost choked. "Well, luckily only for today. Who the hell takes classes like AP Chemistry and Architecture?"

She rolled her eyes. "Apparently, unlike you, _I _like myself a challenge. It expands your brain."

"Yeah, right."

"It does. Now, my locker is 229. What's yours?"

"378."

"Oh, well. You'll take me to mine and we'll meet in front of classroom 59."

"Yes, Sir."

I glanced at a girl, who was looking at Annabeth with a strange look of recognition. Then, she squealed and ran up to us.

"Ohmyfreakinggosharen'tyouannabethchase?"

Annabeth laughed. "Yeah, I am."

The girl jumped up and down and hugged Annabeth like some kind of a crazy person. Then she took out her phone and took five thousand selfies with Annabeth, after which she asked me to take pictures of the two. I refused.

"C'mon, Perce."

I had to smile at her pet name for me, so I took the phone and took three pictures. Finally, after getting a coupon code for Annabeth's merchandise, the girl left. Annabeth took a deep breath.

"Are they all like that?"

She shook her head. "Luckily, there's still a couple out there who can maintain themselves. Now – locker?"

I grinned and she followed me, until we got to locker 229. A big poster had already been plastered to it and a note that read: 'Annabeth, will u dait me?'. Annabeth laughed. "Good spelling."

She opened her locker, which was sealed with an extra protecting lock. To my surprise, it was already filled with stuff. Even personal pictures, which I studied, while she got out her books.

One of them, was her with a black haired girl laughing. She was wearing a pearl coloured shirt and it looked like they were on the beach.

The next one, the same girl, Annabeth, Piper McLean, Justin Bieber and Luke Castellan were sitting on the side of a pool. Annabeth was kissing Luke on the cheek and Justin had an arm around her, which looked a little bit strange. Piper McLean was pulling someone with toned arms into the shot, but was apparently too late.

The next photo was her, a blonde who was sitting on Leo Valdez' lap. Leo was a famous DJ – the girl must be Calypso, his girlfriend. Luke was there too, a drink in one hand. It was on the beach again.

The next one, was a regular selfie, but it stuck out the most. On it was her, in a big fluffy winter jacket. There was snow in her hair. Luke was kissing her cheek. It was a collage type thing, with two pictures, and on the other one, they were both simply laughing at the camera. I realised how much I wanted to be Luke Castellan, right now.


	5. Dates and Decisions

Percy

I watched her smile, her laugh and I felt so strange. I had read somewhere, that it took 1,79 seconds to fall in love but I had never thought that 1) my first love would come after three days of knowing each other and 2) my first love would be one of the most famous actresses in the world.

The waitress came with two cups of steaming hot chocolate and I noticed, how she sent Annabeth and extra glance, before smiling at both of us.

"I can't be here for long, though," Annabeth bit her lip. "The paparazzi will find me."

"We can just run away from them," I grinned. She laughed.

"I guess. But I think that would be a little overdramatic, since they usually always let you pass."

I shrugged. "I have no idea about stuff like that."

We sat in silence for a while, and she stared at her whipped cream. Finally, she took a sip and it made me feel slightly proud.

"So… about you and Luke?"

She looked at me. Then she grinned. "You're really curious about this, aren't you?"

"I guess. It's not often that I get the inside scoop on celebrity news."

"Well, Mr. Jackson, let me give you a _scoop." _

She leaned back and put her hair up in a ponytail. "Um, so, me and Luke have dated, don't get me wrong. It's just… he's changed – and not for the better. He just… Gods, it's hard to explain."

"It's fine. You don't have to, if you don't want to."

She nodded. "Yeah, maybe another time."

I felt slightly disappointed, but decided to let it go. I didn't want to push her into telling me things, she didn't want to tell me.

"Oh, wait! Holy crap, I can't believe I forgot!" she started rummaging around in her handbag, until she brought out a little box and handed it to me.

I looked at it. 'Red Velvet' by Annabeth Chase. It was a box of tea. I grinned at her.

"I thought you should be the one to test it."

"It looks great. I'm excited to."

"And, Percy… you have to be honest with me!"

It was cute, how seriously she took her tea creations. I gave her a stern look. "I hereby promise that, if the tea sucks, I'll tell you that the tea sucks."

She laughed. "I think that that's a good thing."

She glanced out the window, and froze. A black minivan was driving up to the café.

"We have to go," she sent me an urgent glance.

"Why?"

She pointed. "Paparazzi."

"So? We're just friends."

"Percy, in this business – they turn everything into me cheating on Luke."

"But…"

She was already getting dressed. "I really want to spend today with you. But let's go to my place."

"Um, okay. I just don't…"

"It'll be over on my next trip to Hollywood and then we can be seen by them, but officially I'm still dating Luke."

She opened the door.

"Well, not really."

We were too late. The cameras started snapping, and Annabeth grabbed my hand and started walking at a brisk pace towards my car.

"Annabeth, isn't it too late anyway?"

"Just… Yeah, I guess your right."

"Anabeth! Annabeth!"

She pulled me along, by my sleeve, until we got to my blue Prius. She got in the passengers seat, while I quickly sat in behind the wheel. The photographers had doubled in numbers.

"Don't worry," Annabeth was putting on her seat belt. "They'll get out of the way."

Even though I was quite scared to hit one of them, I started driving. As Annabeth said, they got out of the way, but some even started running after the car. I sped up, until we were finally far enough.

"Gods," Annabeth took a deep breath, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the back of the chair.

"You do that often?"

"Just… don't ask questions for a bit, please."

I kept quiet, until we got her house.

"Annabeth, we're home."

She opened her eyes, without looking at me. "Everything's going to explode."

"What do you mean? The media?"

She shook her head. Her actions were kind of freaking me out. "Are you okay?" I asked.

She sent me a smile. "Never mind. Come on, we'll try my new tea."

* * *

><p>She didn't make any further remarks about the events at that café and after. We tried her tea, we laughed, we watched YouTube videos and then I drove home, with the music on full blast, already looking forward to picking her up the next day.<p>

To be completely honest, I had forgotten all about her weirdness in the car, until I was brushing my teeth that night. I got out my laptop and googled 'Annabeth Chase'. There were a couple old ones, but I scrolled until I found one with today's date on it.

**Annabeth Chase on a hot date?**

_Today, teen star Annabeth Chase (16) was seen with an unknown guy in a café, laughing over a cup of hot chocolate. _(How the hell did they know this, by the way? Didn't they first come, when we were about to leave the café?) _Since Chase has moved to Seattle, to, quote Luke Castellan 'to spend more time with her father'. Castellan and Chase haven't seen much of each other since Chase moved, but since Chase has only been in Seattle for a week, can we really know for sure that Lubeth is over?! We spoke to Luke after the incident, who said: 'I'm happy that Annabeth is finding friends in Seattle. She told me that she was a bit nervous about going back to high school and she knows that I trust her.' Well, it sounds like Luke isn't seeing much competition in this black-haired hottie, whom Annabeth was seen with – but is there still room for a change in this department? And who is this guy? We'll keep you updated! _

I decided to call Annabeth, just to check on her. To see what this meant or if it meant anything at all.

Her phone was busy, so I decided to go to bed and talk to her about it tomorrow.

* * *

><p><em>Annabeth <em>

"Silena, I swear to you…!"

"_Annabeth, I get it, okay? But, honey you have to think about the press. It's not really a serious relationship, is it?"_

I thought of Percy's black hair and sea-green eyes. Hesitating, I answered: "No, we've only known each other for a week or so. But… Silena, I'm not happy with Luke. I don't like being forced into this relationship, just for the media. Justin and Selena get to break up all the time!"

"_Yes, but they keep on getting back together, which is only positive for the media."_

"So, you're saying that a breakup between Luke Castellan and Annabeth Chase won't be all over the news?"

"_I hope you know, that you sound like a five-year-old."_

"Gods, I know!" I growled in frustration. "But I don't want to force feelings for someone. Hasn't Luke caused enough media anyway, by making out with every girl? And then I go on _one _date, which wasn't even a date and it's all over the articles!"

Silena paused. _"I get it Annabeth, forced love sucks. Till Christmas?"_

"Christmas? That's three months away!"

"_Sweetheart, you've managed for three years – three more months should be okay? And if you really want some kind of secret relationship with someone, then just keep it a secret and you'll be fine."_

"I don't want a secret relationship with anyone!" I mutter. Silena is silent.

"_Go to bed, Annie. You have to get up early for school." _

"Okay. Goodnight."

She hangs up and I sit down on my bed. My phone keeps vibrating: Luke's called four times, mom has called eleven times. Someone knocks on the door.

"Come in."

"Hey, Annabeth. How are you?"

I gave a strange laugh. "Nervous."

My dad sat down at the end of the bed, close enough to make me feel cosy, but far enough so that I didn't feel awkwardly close to him. "About what?"

Luke. Mom. "Just… my new tea."

He laughed. "Didn't Percy like it?"

There it is again. That weird heart beat, when someone mentions Percy's name. It's annoying and frustrating, since feelings for Percy is the last thing I can take care of right now.

"No, no. He enjoyed it, it's not that. It's more… the name."

"I like 'Red Velvet'."

"Yes, dad, but 'Red Velvet' is also a cupcake and since it has absolutely nothing to do with the cupcake, then… Gods, this is ridiculous. I should be going to bed."

He pats my leg, before saying goodnight and leaving. Thank God, I really needed time for myself.

Crawling underneath the covers, I made a decision. I wanted to break up with Luke. On the weekend. I'd fly to LA and I'd break up, and I wouldn't care what Silena or my mom or Percy thinks. I would break up with Luke for me and only for me.

Closing my eyes, I fell into a restless sleep.


End file.
